To become a good ice hockey player requires thousands of hours of training in how to skate and play hockey. Several months of vital practice/training are lost each year since many ice hockey players are not able to train/practice hockey on ice during the summer. An alternative solution to this problem is to skate on inline skates during the summer.
The characteristics between traditional inline skate wheel frames and the blade which an ice hockey player skates with on ice differ substantially from each other.
An inline skate frame has a long, flat contact plane with the underlying surface, while the blade of a skate which an ice hockey player has on the ice, is not completely flat, but is arch-shaped along all or part of its length. This means that the element of balance is substantially greater when skating is performed on ice. The long contact surface also makes directional changes more difficult. This difference makes the transferability of training with inline skate frames to hockey blades on ice minute and may explain why few ice hockey players use inline skates in their pre-season training during the summer.
There have long been a number of different solutions that try to remedy the problems that ice hockey players have with practicing pre-season training on inline skates. None of these existing designs have thus succeeded to resolve problems in a satisfactory manner.
The main problem with all previous solutions is that these designs do not achieve the element of balance that is found when skating on ice. Since the blade on an ice hockey skate is wholly or partly arch-shaped, contact with the ice is reduced and consequently the element of balance more difficult. The element of balance of a skate on ice is what makes it more difficult to skate on ice than on “normal” inline skates. But, even if the smaller contact area of the hockey skate blade makes it in one way more difficult to skate on, it does have its advantages compared to the inline skate frame when it comes to acceleration, turning around forward/backward and veering. This is because the skater can more easily adjust their center of gravity on the ice skate blade. The short contact area an ice skate blade has against the skating surface, gives the skater the ability to adjust their center of gravity and pressure on the foot forward and backward without the need to bend his/her ankle and knee. This gives a feeling of not being “stuck” in the same way as skaters feel when skating on “normal” inline skates. This is because an ice skate blade during the acceleration stride can maintain contact between the blade and the ice in a controlled manner for a long time since the skater can “roll” forward on the blade. On an inline skate frame it is more of an “all or nothing” principle. If the skater does not bend his/her ankle they are forced to lift the back three rear wheels from the underlying surface and only front wheel contact is left, which alone is hard to push off with. The usual inline skate frame thus provides more control because the contact area is larger, but this brings the problem of fast turns being much more difficult and it is also much harder to accelerate compared with a skate on ice.
Some designs have tried to solve the problem with the skater's feeling of “being stuck” by hanging up the wheels in different ways so that when the skater leans forward and pushes off only one or two wheels lift from the skating surface. This reduces to some extent the feeling of “being stuck” because the skater can perform a powerful push without bending his/her ankle to an unnatural extent (relative to what is needed on ice). The problem with these designs is that the skater still does not have the element of balance that he or she has on the ice.
Physiologically speaking, the above mentioned differences results in a skater having a completely different muscle activation when skating with skates on ice compared to when skating is performed with inline skates. Because the effects of fitness and speed training are mostly located to the muscles that are trained, this means that training effects from inline skating has a very low transmissibility to skating on ice, which is highly detrimental to the athletes who mainly exercise to improve their performance in sports based on ice skating. Training means to continually challenge the body in different ways by setting higher goals to improve a physical characteristic. Because balance is for example one of an ice hockey player's main physical characteristics, pre-season training should also include training that develops balance and thus leads to improvement. Improved balance leads to more efficient skating, which means that a skater on ice can skate longer with the same fitness level. Moreover, good balance is fundamental for, in a technically sound manner, implementing all other aspects of play that an ice hockey player faces, such as shots on goal, passes, tackles and more.
By using a “regular” inline skate frame in his/her pre-season training with a much simpler element of balance than for example an ice hockey player has on the ice, the effect is the opposite of what is desired, which is a major drawback. The body adapts to the simpler element of balance and when the player later returns to skate on the ice all aspects are perceived difficult and taxing. This is largely because skating efficiency and balance have deteriorated since the body has adapted to a simpler element of balance.
The present invention is designed to solve the above problems. With the present design an ice hockey player can for example skate on inline skates with the same element of balance as on ice. It is also possible to skate with an element of balance which is more difficult than an ice hockey player has on ice. This removes the problems of existing designs which cannot challenge the body's sense of balance, so the body is forced to refine its movements. Nor do existing designs improve skating efficiency and balance enough, which is fundamental to a good technical execution of all aspects of play that for example an ice hockey player faces. Furthermore, the present invention's element of balance provides muscle activation similar to that for example, an ice hockey player has on ice. This eliminates the problems associated with existing designs which cannot transfer the effects of fitness and speed training to skating on ice. Further, the present design's wheel placement allows for the contact surface with the ground at a given location to be substantially less than with the traditional inline skate frame, which helps facilitate changes in direction and further emulates the ice skate blade's properties on ice.
The design according to patent document WO0009223 has tried to solve the above problems by hanging the two middle wheels on their own suspension. The design allows a skater to take three different positions on the wheels, on the three forward wheels, on the two middle or on the three rear wheels. This allows the skater, to some extent, to alleviate the feeling of “being stuck”. However, there are still only three wheels that have contact with the ground during push off, which still gives a very long contact with the surface and is therefore inadequate. A certain small element of balance can be achieved with the design, because it is possible to sway a bit forward and backward, but still only on three positions. The element of balance therefore becomes shaky and rough, which removes much of the feeling that an ice skate blade has when used on ice. Therefore this design will not solve said problems which distinguishes this design in a substantial way from the present invention.
The design according to patent document EP0786275 by applicant Ski Rossignol is structured like a “clap skate” with a center of rotation above the second forward wheel. The pivot point (rotational center) lessens the feeling of “being stuck”. This design differs significantly from the present invention and solves a completely different purpose. For example, the design provides a very limited element of balance, which removes any association to ice hockey skates or similar.